In addition to size there are other important advantages gained by using a projector to display stereo imaging for 3D glasses.

Light Intensity

I find that the virtual reality experience is seriously degraded if the screen seems dim, even marginally dim. This means that you need a very bright screen for 3D glasses to work the best. By nature 3D shutter glasses block more than 1/2 the light reaching your eyes. But a DLP projector that shoots out 2300 lumens or more easily compensates for the shutter glass light loss.

If your display looks dim through your 3D glasses, don't waste too much time trying to crank up the brightness and gamma controls on your monitor or video card. The attempt will not increase brightness significantly, but it will often distort colors and cause the image to look washed out. Consider a DLP projector instead.

Ghost Busting

DLP projectors that are rated for a refresh rate of at least 85 hertz nearly eliminate a problem known as "ghosting". Ghosting occurs when the system cannot keep up with the alternating left-right stereo images flashing on the display. The problem produces an after-image or "ghost" of objects similar to the illustration at left.

Like an unpleasant smell, users can get used to minor ghosting to the point where it becomes unnoticed. An intense ghost image, however, is a serious headache. Ghosting may be caused by a low battery level in your 3D shutter glasses. In my tests the glasses cause only very minor ghosting along the edges of the field of view. Major ghosting occurs from slow phosphors in many older CRT and LCD monitors.

Then again, Size does matter!

Virtual reality (VR) is all about losing yourself in the simulation experience. But it is hard to forget that you are sitting in a room at a computer when the simulation is displayed on a 19" monitor (3D or not). For VR the name of the game is "field of view". Sitting a few feet from a 42" screen means that the display fills up most of your visual field.